Let's take No. 1 first, not simply because it has a "1" next to it, but because, it's the holidays -- these are light days (or at least they ought to be) -- and we could all use a laugh together.

Compare this scene from a Microsoft Store with the relative mobs you see at Apple Stores.

And then there's this shot of ... well ... a picture is worth a thousand words.

Over the last few weeks, we have discussed retail traffic quite a bit. As a former Ph.D. student (who did what any good Ph.D. student does -- I dropped out!), I'm sensitive to the notion that anecdote doesn't mean a damn thing when you're trying to determine the reality that exists in a population.

Believe me, if I had the resources, I would draw a "proper" sample and find out what's really going on. But that also comes with a plethora of limitations. Ultimately, as a researcher -- casual, professional, hack or otherwise -- you have to point out where things fall short. I have always done that, explicitly, in the academic work I have done . I do it here. I just don't spoon feed you, the reader, like you have to do the professors who review scholarly articles from their ivory towers.

In my work at TheStreet, it's incredibly clear that what I express is my opinion. Maybe I am making too big of an assumption, but I strongly believe -- and hope -- that most readers consider what I have to say opinion.

Secondary to that, I do not think Microsoft's Windows 8 and the Surface tablet came ready for primetime this Christmas. I think it will show come January, if not sooner, as reports from the ground and online trickle in.

I also believe loads of sales continue to move online. That's hardly a revelation -- comScore reports a 16% year-over-year spike in online retail sales over the first 51 days of the holiday shopping period -- however the media and analysts blow this off as well, at least as it relates to Apple.